A HGV driver, and Unite member, has secured a significant sum of compensation following an accident at work which left him with serious injuries to his neck and right shoulder.

Steven Bardrick, a member of Unite the Union, was delivering goods to Spicer Limited, his employers, when he was injured. He was moving goods into the premises when a warehouseman removed a safety mechanism from the roller shutter above the entry. The roller shutter fell onto Steven with a force of two-and-half-tonnes, causing him serious soft-tissue injuries to his neck and right shoulder.

He was immediately taken to hospital to receive treatment and was kept in overnight. He has been left with severely restricted movement in his shoulder despite undergoing an operation and a year of physiotherapy. As a result of his injuries, Steven has been unable to return to work since the accident, and at the age of 56, looks unlikely to recover in time to work again.

Following the accident, Steven contacted Unite Legal Services to pursue a claim for compensation on his behalf.

Steven said: “The day of the accident was just another day at work, but instead of going back home to my family I woke up in a hospital. The list of things I can no longer do because of the accident is endless. I struggle with the simplest of tasks at home and can no longer go out and play golf or go swimming as I used to.

“Spicer Limited tried to wipe their hands clean of me the second they heard about my accident. While I am saddened at the thought that I will probably never work again, Unite Legal Services at least made sure that my employer couldn’t escape from blame and I cannot thank them enough for that.”

Peter Kavanagh from Unite the Union said: “We are horrified that a two-and-a-half tonne roller shutter was allowed to fall on an employee. Mr Bardrick was seriously injured in what is likely a career-ending incident but Spicer Limited is lucky it didn’t have a fatality on its hands.

“We fought hard for our member in this case and while we are happy to have secured him the compensation he deserved, we are disappointed that another hard working employee may never work again because of a totally avoidable accident at work.”